Heeza Malteeza Photo by Club Menangle
THEDavid Aiken-trained three-year-old Heeza Malteeza could arguably have produced the best performance of all the qualifying races leading into Saturday night’s Nutrien New South Wales Breeders Challenge Finals.
Owned by the Xerri family, who boast a fine record in the sport as successful breeders and owners, the gelded son of Stay Hungry has always shown above-average ability.
And he has thrived since joining Aiken’s stable in August, winning two races and a third placing, including his impressive semi-final performance last Saturday night at Menangle.
Heeza Malteeza was sent out as a bit of an outsider at $15 but despite this, driver Will Rixon drove him aggressively, making a mid-race dash around the field to sit outside of the leader and long odds-on favourite Path To Greatness.
The confident move proved to be a winning one and he was brave in the end, fighting off a late challenge from Sweet On Lexy to score by just over a metre, running the mile in 1.52.5 and the final quarter in 27.3 seconds.
It was the third leg of a winning treble for Rixon who earlier in the night won the Les Chant FFA aboard Betterthancash and a semi-final of the three-year-old filles with Gunna Reload.
In a post-race interview, Rixon was full of praise for Heeza Malteeza’s effort.
“I was looking forward to the night as I felt that I had a really strong book of drives,” said Rixon.
“I feel fortunate to be driving for trainers like David Aiken and I have to pinch myself sometimes, he is a Hall of Famer that shows a lot of faith in me, and I see it as a real privilege.
“Heeza Malteeza was super tonight.
“To be honest, I had not planned to drive him so hard.
“At first I went to the fence but when they were setting a mediocre speed up front I decided to chance my arm and put him into the race, knowing just how strong the horse is.”
Rixon again heads to Menangle on Saturday night with another strong book of drives in four of the Breeder Challenge finals, but unfortunately some of them had little luck in the barrier draws.
Heeza Malteeza has fared reasonably and will start from gate five while Ravishing Sloy has drawn barrier two in the 4YO Entires and Geldings final.
